Bike Style Spokane Amazon Associates Store

I think you should buy local whenever possible, but if you can't find it locally you can see if I have it in my Amazon Associates store. Your purchase through the Amazon link on my site helps support our mutual quest.
If the text link doesn't work, copy/paste this URL into your browser: http://astore.amazon.com/bikbar-20

Buy Bicycle Gifts Online!

Don't know what to get for your best biking buddy? BicycleGifts.com offers vintage bike posters, jewelry, and more. Owned by bike advocates, they supported Spokane Bikes/Bike to Work Spokane in our very first year with donations of prizes for participants and Bike Style Spokane is proud to be an online affiliate.
Buy Distinctive Bike Gifts Online

Just Capital! The Blogspedition Heads to Washington, DC

This coming week I get to appreciate our nation’s capitol yet again on an annual trip I make as part of a community delegation to meet with our federal elected officials, their staff, and various agencies on behalf of Spokane priorities.

Since these include projects of the university where I head up communications and public affairs I’m working while I’m there, but the schedule does have some gaps that may permit me to check out the Capital Bikeshare program or rent a bike from a local shop and pedal up and down the Mall a bit. I usually walk myself into the ground squeezing in museum visits between meetings–a bike would make it all so much easier and more efficient!

Bicycling to Work: Char blogs about her 14-mile daily round trip into DC with stories about chains, reflective vests, and all that good commute stuff.

CAWES Cycling: Racers with nicknames like Princess Leah, Raspa, Grizzly, and Lemming blog here about their experiences trying to move up in category, win, or just survive, and their work to support the IM Able Foundation, which works to inspire “all individuals, disabled and able-bodied, realize the potential to go further and push harder than their preconceived limits.” (I’m heading over to post a link about this on the Veterans’ Day post I wrote about groups and efforts like this.)

Pedal ‘n’ Purl: @nikki_d bikes and knits, a combination I run across frequently in these blogs (hey, that would make for a great blogspedition! Coming soon.) and writes about her canning over at Gin and Pickles (getting pickled more than one way?).

Sticky Femme: Her Tumblr site mostly consists of very happy photos of dates with her sweetie and mentions of fabulous restaurants. This is a key site for me since I’m going to be eating out a lot this coming week! She’s @stickyfemme on Twitter.

Where the Bike Takes Me: It’s defunct (last post in 2009) but I’m capturing it here for posterity. It may symbolize a stat I just got from Andrea (soon to be a guest blogger here!), that 95% of all personal blogs are abandoned. It’s just possible that the final post’s reference to an “ever-growing belly” means that motherhood took over blogging time….

Have any special requests for a blogspedition? Doesn’t have to be geographical–could be thematic (like the knitting bikers/biking knitters one mentioned above) or based on anything I might be able to tease out of the list.

Thanks for this great list of DC area bloggers. Some are new to me and I’ll check them out. One more to know of, John’s and my blog – Mid-Atlantic Bike Commuting, http://www.midatlbike.wordpress.com. As you might guess we do write about our commutes. Mine’s a multi-modal trip to DC from Baltimore, John’s is a challenging 20 mile roundtrip in Baltimore’s suburbia. We also write about our weekend rides, bike tours, gear reviews and advocacy. Readers and commenters welcome! I’m on Twitter too, @midatlanticbike.

Glad you are planning to see DC by bike. My 2 cents: BikeShare is pretty much worry free, the bikes are adjustable, comfortable and very visible. I feel it has a few drawbacks. 1) Bikes are heavy and not at all nimble. 2) You have to be able to find a convenient rack with open docks. This can be a challenge. 3) After a half hour of use, you start incurring extra charges. I’d say if you want a bike for a ride of 1-2 miles and there’s a station handy to your destination its a great choice. If you want a bike for longer rides and longer time periods, renting may be handier and more economical. Bike and Roll (2 DC locations) is a great resource. http://bikeandroll.com/washingtondc/ They have loop frame and diamond frame hybrids and will provide everything you need, including a handlebar bag, helmet and lock.

Thanks for the shout-out and complement on my title / content! However, my twitter handle is actually @storiteller – a handle I’ve had since I was about 15, although not on Twitter! Melanie, I hadn’t seen Bikes and Bites, so thanks for that referral too.

I hope you have a great time in D.C. I would recommend checking out BicycleSpace while you’re here – great shop with fantastic community rides.